Be’lakor is a Five Piece Melodic Death Metal band from Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Formed in 2004 Be’lakor’s second album Stone’s Reach won the first prize in the 2009 Metal Storm Melodeath/Gothenburg Metal Album of the year. Opening for bands such as Turisas, Alestorm and Apocalyptica and touring extensively in Europe Be’lakor are one of the great up and coming Melodic Death Metal bands of the decade.

Be’lakor’s fourth full length album ‘Vessels’ came smashing through the walls of reality on the 24th of June 2016 – A triumph of melodic death metal with a dollop of prog that would put many 70’s bands to shame.

The opening track “Luma” is two minutes that set the tone for the entire album, a fantastic example of loud and nasty with technical overtones leading perfectly into “An Ember’s Arc” with its classical-esque introduction lulling you into a false sense of security before bursting your eardrums with a mighty roar.

From start to finish your aural sense will be assaulted with a veritable barrage of technical perfection and lung bursting brutality.

Without giving the game away too much ‘Vessels’ will keep you guessing as to whether the song will bring a tear to your eye or pound you into the ground with raw force for all eight tracks and the full running time of the album.

“A Thread Dissolves” could have done with having the vocal channel brought forward slightly but that’s a small quibble in what should essentially be called the show off track of the album.

Top Tracks:
“Roots to Sever”, “Grasping Light” and “The Smoke of Many Fires”

The only dislikeable factor in the whole album is that it feels in some ways Be’lakor are trying a little too hard to top previous releases. Not a bad thing but it leaves the listener wondering what was lost in this venture.

‘Vessels’ is unimpeachably good, a fusion of almost orchestral sounds, distorted guitar and a running theme of chords that hold the whole thing together whether one is fluent in Grroarrwl or not.

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Vita in Musica was founded in 2016. We bring you the latest news, reviews and interviews from the metal scene, and additionally offer a number of musical services, including promotional band and live gig photography.

ViM is the brainchild of music journalist Liam Rider, who has previously written for a number of online publications, including Onslaught Radio, and is himself an active musician.

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